RIDDLE POSTS BY TAG: 'TATWINE'

Tatwine Riddle 1: De philosophia

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Tatwine's Riddle 1
Original text:

Incipiunt enigmata Tautunii

Stamine metrorum exstructor conserta retexit
Sub deno quater haec diverse enigmata torquens.
Septena alarum me circumstantia cingit,
Vecta per alma poli quis nunc volitare solesco,
Abdita, nunc terrae penetrans atque ima profundi. 
Sum Salomone sagacior et velocior Euro,
Clarior et Phoebi radiis, pretiosior auro,
Suavior omnigena certe modulaminis arte,
Dulcior et favo gustantum in faucibus aeso.
Nulla manus poterit nec me contingere visus
Cum, presens dubio sine, me quaerentibus adsto.
Mordentem amplector, parcentem me viduabo.
Est felix mea qui poterit cognoscere iura:
Quemque meo natum esse meum sub nomine rebor.

Translation:

Here begin the riddles of Tatwine

The author recounts these riddles, connected by a thread of 
Verses, weaving forty in different directions. 
A sevenfold circle of wings surrounds me,
On which it is my custom to fly, concealed, carried now through the sweet heavens,
Now penetrating the profound depths of the earth.
I am wiser than Solomon and faster than Eurus, 
And brighter than the rays of Phoebus, more precious than gold, 
Certainly more pleasing than every art of music-making,
And sweeter than honeycomb in the mouth of the tasters.
No hand nor sight is able to touch me
When I, definitely present, stand near those who seek me.
I embrace that which bites me, deprive that which avoids me. 
Happy is he who can know my laws:
I will judge him born under my name.

Click to show riddle solution?
On philosophy


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Commentary for Tatwine's Riddle 1

MEGANCAVELL

Date: Wed 30 Aug 2023
Matching Riddle: Tatwine Riddle 1: De philosophia

This commentary is by Alexandra Zhirnova, who is a PhD student at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (University of Cambridge). Her research concerns the religious history of early medieval England, with a focus on women in theology. She holds an MPhil, also from ASNC, for which she researched Tatwine’s riddles as teaching tools for the medieval curriculum.

 

This one’s actually two poems in one, because the first few lines aren’t part of Riddle 1 at all – they’re an introduction to the whole riddle collection! The reason they’ve been crammed together under the same title is because the scribes who wrote them down were not paying attention. Did you notice how they misspelled the author’s name too?

Even so, the opening lines are actually quite important because they tell us something about how to read Tatwine’s riddles. If you’re not quite following, don’t worry – the scribes themselves didn’t know what was going on!

Tatwine’s introduction is actually the solution to an acrostic. An acrostic is a text that is hidden in the first or last letters of a poem’s line. You can see some of them in bold below:

  • Riddle 1    Septena alarum me circumstantia cingiT
  • Riddle 2    Una tres natae sumus olim ex matre sagacI
  • Riddle 3    Bis binas statuit sua nos vigiles dominatriX
  • Riddle 4    Dulcifero pia nos genitrix ditavit honorE
  • Riddle 5    Efferus exuviis populator me spoliaviT
  • Riddle 6    Nativa penitus ratione, heu, fraudor ab hostE
  • Riddle 7    Olim dictabar proprio sub nomine “CaesaR
  • etc.

So what we have here is the first letter of the first line of each riddle spelling out part of a sentence, and the last letter of every first line (this time going from bottom to top) spelling out the rest. You can only see the first words, “Sub deno” and the last word, “retexit,” here, but the acrostic runs through all 40 of Tatwine’s riddles, and, if you put all those first and last letters together, you get the opening lines in reverse: “Sub deno quater haec diverse enigmata torquens / Stamine metrorum exstructor conserta retexit” (The author recounts these riddles, connected by a thread of Verses, weaving forty in different directions).

This must have been an incredibly difficult job for Tatwine! Why did he bother? Well, one reason is that the acrostic helps to make sure that none of Tatwine’s riddles are lost in transmission: you need 80 letters to make the preface, so all 40 riddles have to appear together. This is important because the number 40 has a special meaning in the Bible. Moses spent 40 years in the desert, and Jesus was tested in the wilderness for 40 days. So the number 40 usually represents a test or trial, just like the riddles are a test of the readers’ knowledge.

Another reason Tatwine came up with this acrostic is that he probably wanted to outdo other writers like Aldhelm, whose own riddle collection’s preface has a simpler acrostic. And I think Tatwine’s acrostic is really impressive. Aldhelm only had to make sure that each line began and ended with the same letter (still quite a challenge!), but Tatwine had to keep the whole preface in mind as he wrote each riddle’s first line.

 

Click here to check out the acrostic preface to Aldhem’s riddles in the manuscript called Royal MS 12 C XXIII (folio 83r) on the British Library’s website.
 

So, you might wonder whether the scribes of Tatwine’s riddles bothered to highlight this in any way. NOPE. Take a look here. Given that these two key lines are written in the wrong order to match the acrostic, it’s possible that the scribes didn’t even realise it was there. Grrrr!

Okay, that’s enough enthusiasm and righteous indication about the preface! Let’s move on to Riddle 1.

If you’ve read this website’s commentaries on the Exeter Book riddles, you’ll remember that most of the commentaries discuss possible solutions, because the Exeter Book doesn’t include solutions for its riddle collection. You might think that, since the Latin riddles have solutions in their titles, we don’t need a commentary at all, but the thing is, not only are the solutions sometimes wrong (why couldn’t those Canterbury scribes just do their job properly???), but often there’s more than the one given in the title.

Riddle 1 is a great example of this. The manuscripts suggest that the riddle is De philosophia (About philosophy), which makes a lot of sense. Philosophy is both lofty and profound (aka deep); you “eat” her as you learn (this sounds creepy, but we still talk about “devouring” a book); and she “adopts” her students under the name “philosopher.” Philosophy’s seven wings are also interesting because they probably represent the Seven Liberal Arts – in other words, the medieval school subjects. So far, quite straightforward.

 

A 12th-century drawing of Philosophy with the seven liberal arts. Image from Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
 

But besides the “official” solution, Tatwine liked to test his readers’ knowledge of the Bible. He was, after all, the archbishop of Canterbury!

So, let’s put on our Sunday School hats and try to spot which bits of the Bible Tatwine was trying to test us on. The number 7 is a handy clue. We find another wise figure in the Bible who liked both the number 7 and feeding people:

"1. Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars. 2. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table. 3. She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower, and to the walls of the city: 4. Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise she said: 5. Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. 6. Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence." (Proverbs 9:1–6, via DRBO)

This doesn’t really change the solution, though: Wisdom and Philosophy are pretty much the same thing, right? Well, not quite. Philosophy was considered a science which aimed to create a correct understanding of the world, while Wisdom was the skill of applying that understanding to one’s life. The Bible says that Wisdom comes directly from God to teach humans to live righteously, so that they may be saved from sin: “Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence.”

For a Christian reader studying biblical exegesis (the meanings of the Bible, especially in relation to Jesus), there was another interpretation of Old Testament Wisdom. Let’s look again at the last 5 lines of the riddle:

Nulla manus poterit nec me contingere visus
Cum, presens dubio sine, me quaerentibus adsto.
Mordentem amplector, parcentem me viduabo.
Est felix mea qui poterit cognoscere iura:
Quemque meo natum esse meum sub nomine rebor.

(No hand nor sight is able to touch me
When I, definitely present, stand near those who seek me.
I embrace that which bites me, deprive that which avoids me.
Happy is he who can know my laws:
I will judge him born under my name.)

So, we are dealing with an ever-present invisible being who embraces the one that bites it and adopts the ones who learn its laws “under [its] name.” Bearing in mind the Christian background of this riddle, we might also ask who in the Biblical canon gladly offers their body to be bitten into and despises the person who doesn’t bite it?

The answer is, of course, Christ. The biting refers to the Holy Communion, and the person “born under [his] name” is a Christian. The grammar of the riddle makes Christ feminine, but the cool thing about medieval exegesis is that it’s okay! There’s a whole bunch of medieval scholars who wrote about a “feminine Christ” – down to describing his “nourishing breasts” in, for example, Bede’s commentary on the Song of Songs 1 (for more on this, see Arthur G. Holder’s article, “The feminine Christ in Bede’s Biblical Commentaries”).

I hope you’ll agree that this riddle and its preface are both exceptionally cool, complex and profound pieces of work. And I hope they'll inspire you to go looking for hidden meanings – in the riddles on this website or somewhere else entirely.

 

A 16th-century image of Christ with his “body and blood” from Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

 

Tags: anglo saxon  latin  Tatwine  Alexandra Zhirnova 

Tatwine Riddle 2: De spe, fide, et caritate

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Una tres natae sumus olim ex matre sagaci.
Est felix eius liceat cui cernere formam
Reginae, fausto semper quae numine regnat,
Solifero cuius thalamus splendore nitescit.
Cernere quae nullus nec pandere septa valebit,
Maternis quis nec poterit fore visibus aptus,
Nostris ni fuerit complexibus ante subactus.

Translation:

We three were once born from one wise mother.
Happy is he who may perceive the beauty
Of the queen, who reigns always in fortunate power,
Whose household shines in sun-bringing splendour.
There is none who has the strength either to discern or open her gates,
Nor can someone be ready for visions of the mother,
Unless he was first acted upon by our embraces.

Click to show riddle solution?
On hope, faith, and charity


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 3: De historia et sensu et moralis et allegoria

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Bis binas statuit sua nos vigiles dominatrix
Thesauri cellaria conservare sorores,
Diversisque, intus fulgent, ornata metallis,
Omnigena et florum dulcedine serta virescunt.
Gaudentes, nostris haec mox reseramus amicis,
Ingratisque aditum sed iure negamus apertum.

Translation:

The mistress established us, twice-two guards
And sisters, to keep the stores in the vault,
And decorated with several metals, they shine within,
And they grow, garlanded with all manner of sweet flower.
Rejoicing, we unbar these soon to our friends,
But we rightly deny open entrance to the ungrateful.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the literal and moral and allegorical sense


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 4: De litteris

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Dulcifero pia nos genitrix ditavit honore
Dulcia quod bibulis praestamus pocula buccis,
Tosta ministrantes nitidis et fercula mensis,
Sed tamen apta damus cunctis responsaque certa.
Littera tollatur, non fulget nominis ortus.

Translation:

Our pious mother enriched us with the sweet honour
That we provide sweet drinks to thirsty mouths,
Serving roasted food on polished tables,
And yet we give fitting and certain responses to all.
A letter is removed, and the beginning of our name does not shine.

Click to show riddle solution?
On letters


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 5: De membrano

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Efferus exuviis populator me spoliavit.
Vitalis pariter flatus spiramina dempsit,
In planum me iterum campum sed verterat auctor.
Frugiferos cultor sulcos mox irrigat undis.
Omnigenam nardi messem mea prata rependunt,
Qua sanis victum et lesis praestabo medelem.

Translation:

A savage destroyer despoiled me of my garments.
At the same time, he removed the holes for life-giving breath,
But an author turned me into a level field again.
Soon the cultivator irrigates my fruitful furrows with waves.
My meadows return an abundant harvest of nard, 
With which I shall supply food to the healthy and cure to the hurt.

Click to show riddle solution?
On parchment


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 6: De penna

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Nativa penitus ratione, heu, fraudor ab hoste,
Nam superas quondam, pernix, auras penetrabam.
Vincta tribus, nunc, in terris persolvo tributum.
Planos compellor sulcare per aequora campos.
Causa laboris amoris tum fontes lacrimarum
Semper compellit me aridis infundere sulcis.

Translation:

I am, alas, completely defrauded of my native essence by an enemy,
For formerly, swift, I used to pierce the upper winds.
Now, I pay tribute, bound by three things on earth.
I am compelled to plow level fields through the plains.
Then the cause of my labour of love always compels me
To pour onto the arid ditches fountains of tears.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the pen


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 7: De tintinno

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Olim dictabar proprio sub nomine "Caesar,"
Optabantque meum proceres iam cernere vultum.
Nunc aliter versor superis, suspensus in auris,
Et, caesus, cogor late persolvere planctum
Cursibus haut tardis cum ad luctum turba recurrit.
Mordeo mordentem labris mox dentibus absque.

Translation:

Once I was called "Caesar" under my own name,
And princes then desired to behold my face.
Now I am occupied otherwise, suspended in the upper winds, 
And, beaten, I am forced to perform a lamentation far and wide
When the crowd resorts to mourning with not-at-all slow steps.
I soon bite the biter with lips without teeth.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the bell


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 8: De ara

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Quadripedis pulchri quamvis constat mihi forma,
Sponte, tamen, nullus me usquam lustrare videbit.
Bis binis, certe, per quadrum cornibus armor,
Quosque meis dapibus dignos satiare solesco.
Indignis potumque cibumque referre negabo.
Ex alta clarum merui re nomen habere.

Translation:

Although my form is that of a beautiful quadruped, 
None will, however, see me walk anywhere on my own.
Certainly, I am armed with twice-two horns in a square,
And I am accustomed to satisfy those worthy with my feasts.
I deny to bring to the unworthy both food and drink.
I fittingly took my brilliant name from high things.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the altar


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 9: De cruce Christi

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Versiculor cernor nunc, nunc mihi forma nitescit.
Lege, fui quondam cunctis iam larbula servis,
Sed modo me, gaudens, orbis veneratur et ornat.
Quique meum gustat fructum iam sanus habetur,
Nam mihi concessum est insanis ferre salutem.
Propterea sapiens optat me in fronte tenere.

Translation:

Now I appear multicoloured, now my form shines.
Once, by law, I was then a terror to all slaves,
But now, rejoicing, the world venerates and decorates me.
He who tastes my fruit is now kept healthy,
For it is granted to me to bring health to the unwell.
Therefore the wise man wishes to hold me on his front.

Click to show riddle solution?
On Christ’s cross


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 10: De recitabulo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Angelicas populis epulas dispono frequenter,
Grandisonisque aures verbis cava guttura complent.
Succedit vox, sed mihi nulla aut lingua loquendi,
Et bina alarum fulci gestamine cernor,
Quis sed abest penitus virtus iam tota volandi,
Dum solus subter constat mihi pes sine passu.

Translation:

I frequently bequeath angelic food to the people,
And hollow throats fill ears with lofty words.
Voice follows, but I have no tongue for speaking,
And I am seen to be supported by conveyance of two wings,
Which, however, are now completely without the full strength to fly,
While below I have only one foot without a footprint.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the lectern


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 11: De acu

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Torrens me genuit fornax de viscere flammae,
Conditor invalido et finxit me corpore, luscam,
Sed constat nullum iam me sine vivere posse.
Est mirum dictu cludam ni lumina vultus,
Condere non artis penitus molimina possum.

Translation:

A burning furnace engendered me from a flame’s viscera,
And my maker shaped me, one-eyed, with a weak body,
But it is certain that none can now live without me.
It is strange to say that if I do not shut my eyes, (1)
I am not at all able to create my art’s effort.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the needle


Notes:

(1) The Latin phrase lumina vultus literally translates as "the lights of the face," which means "eyes."



Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 12: De patena

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Exterius cernor pulcher formaque decorus.
Interius minus haud mulcent mea viscera caros.
Quot horae diei sunt, tot mihi lumina lucent,
Et sena comptus potior sub imagine crurum,
Unius sed amoena quidem pedis est mihi forma.

Translation:

On the outside I am perceived to be pleasing and beautiful in form.
On the inside my entrails are not less charming to my friends.
There are as many hours in the day as there are lights that shine from me,
And I have an adornment of six legs,
But in fact my pleasant form has one foot.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the paten


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 13: De acu pictili

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Reginae cupiunt animis me cernere necnon
Reges mulcet adesse mei quoque corporis usus,
Nam multos vario possum captare decore.
Quippe, meam gracilis faciem iugulaverat hospes,
Nobilior tamen adcrescit decor inde genarum.

Translation:

Queens desire to see me in their hearts and also
It pleases kings to be present at the use of my body as well,
For I am able to attract many with my varied beauty. 
Indeed, a slender guest cuts my face,
Yet the charm of my cheeks grows more noble.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the embroidery needle


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 14: De caritate

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Haud tristis, gemino sub nexu vincula gesto.
Vincta resolvo ligata iterumque soluta ligabo.
Est mirum dictu ardent quod mea viscera flammis.
Nemo, tamen, sentit fera vinctus dampna cremandi:
Sed mulcent ea plus vinctum quam dulcia mella.

Translation:

Not sad, I bear fetters under a twin bond.
I free those bound and tied and in turn I will bind the free. 
It is miraculous to say how my insides burn with flames.
No one who is bound, however, feels the cruel injuries of burning: 
Rather, they appease the bound more than sweet honey.

Click to show riddle solution?
On charity


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 15: De nive, grandine, et glacie

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Aethereus ternas genitor nos iam peperit hoc
Sub miserae fato legis de matre sorores,
Invida namque patris cogit sors frangere fatum.
Una tamen spes est tali sub lege retentis:
Quod mox regalem matris remeamus in alvum.

Translation:

An ethereal father begot us three sisters now
From our mother under this fate of a wretched law,
For envious destiny forces father’s fate to diminish.
Held under such a law, there is nevertheless one hope:
That soon we may return to our mother’s royal womb.

Click to show riddle solution?
On snow, hail, and ice


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 16: De praepositione utriusque casus

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Emerita gemina sortis sub lege tenemur,
Nam tollenti nos, stabiles, servire necesse est.
Causanti, contra, cursus comitamur eundo,
Sicque vicissim bis binae coniungimur ambis
Quippe sorores decreta stat legibus urna.

Translation:

We are held under tried-and-tested, two-fold law of fate,
For it is necessary that we, stationary, serve that which removes. 
Moving, on the contrary, we join that which advances a cause,
And thus we twice-two sisters are joined to both in turn;
Indeed, our decreed lot stands subject to these laws.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the preposition governing two cases


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 17: De scyrra

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Celsicolae nascor foecunda matris in alvo,
Quae superas penitus sedes habitare solescit.
Sum petulans agilisque fera, insons, corporis astu.
Ardua, ceu pennis, convecta cacumina scando,
Veloci vitans passu discrimina Martis.

Translation:

I am born from the fecund womb of a mother who dwells on high,
Who tends to live inside the upper settlements.
I am an insolent and agile creature, innocent of bodily guile.
I climb, as if on wings, the lofty vaulted peaks,
Avoiding by speed in step the dangers of Mars.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the squirrel


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 18: De oculis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Discernens totum iuris, natura locavit
Nos pariter, geminos, una de matre creatos,
Divisi haud magno parvi discrimen collis,
Ut numquam vidi illum, nec me viderat ipse,
Sed cernit sine me nihil, illo nec sine cerno.

Translation:

Separating us completely by her laws, nature placed
Us, twins, created equally from one mother,
Divided by the not-at-all big division of a little hill,
So that I have never seen that one, nor has that one seen me,
But he sees nothing without me, nor do I see without him.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the eyes


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 19: De strabis oculis

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Inter mirandum cunctis est cetera quod nunc 
Narro quidem: nos produxit genitrix, uterinos,
Sed quod contemplor, mox illud cernere spernit,
Atque quod ille videt secum, mox cernere nolo.
Est dispar nobis visus, sed inest amor unus.

Translation:

For all to wonder at: among the things that indeed
I now say: our mother produced us, born of the same uterus,
But that which I observe, he afterwards scorns to behold,
And what he himself sees, I do not wish then to see.
Our sight is unequal, but our desire is one.

Click to show riddle solution?
On strabismus-eyes


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 20: De lusco

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Unus sum genitus, ducifer fratris sine fructu,
Eius sed propriam post ditabor comitatu,
Mortem, una vitam deinceps sine fine tenemus.
In vita natum nullus quem creverat umquam
Hoc qui non credit verum tunc esse videbit.

Translation:

I was born alone, a leader without a brother’s help, 
But after my own death, I will be enriched by his 
Company, and thereafter we will have life as one without end.
Whoever does not believe that this is true will then see
Born to life one whom none has ever seen.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the one-eyed


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 21: De malo

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Est mirum ingrato cunctis quod nomine dicor,
Cum rarum aut dubium qui me sine vivere constat.
Nec ego privatim constare bono sine possum,
Certum namque bonum si dempserit omne, peribo.
Iam, mihi nulla boni innata est substantia veri.

Translation:

It is remarkable that I am called by a name unpleasant to all,
Because it is rare or doubtful that someone manages to live without me.
Nor can I manage on my own without good,
For certainly if one removes all good, I will perish.
Moreover, no substance of true good is innate in me.

Click to show riddle solution?
On evil


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 22: De Adam

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Regem me quondam gnari et dominum vocitabant 
Sceptri dum solus tunc regmen in orbe tenebam—
Pro dolor, heu, socia virtute redactus inermem.
Hostilis, subito, circum me copia cinxit, 
Ac deinceps miserum servis servire coegit.

Translation:

Wise men once called me king and lord,
While I was alone holding then the sceptre’s rule in the world—
O woe, alas, reduced by my kindred character.
Suddenly, enemy troops surrounded me, defenceless,
And thereafter compelled me, miserable, to serve slaves.

Click to show riddle solution?
On Adam


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 23: De trina morte

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Saucio loetiferis omnes cum morsibus intus,
Nam rabidi trino capitis sub dente perimo.
Sed multi evadunt binorum vulnera dentum,
Tertius est nullus quem devitare licebit,
Sed binorum alter mordet quemcumque perimit.

Translation:

I wound everyone inside with my deadly bites,
For I kill by way of the three teeth in my savage head.
Although many evade the wounds of two teeth,
There is a third which no one will be able to flee,
But one of the two destroys whomever it kills.

Click to show riddle solution?
On threefold death


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine 

Tatwine Riddle 24: De humilitate

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Wed 05 Jan 2022
Original text:

Egregius vere nullus sine me est neque felix.
Amplector cunctos quorum me corda requirunt. 
Qui absque meo graditur comitatu morte peribit,
Et qui me gestat sospes sine fine manebit.
Inferior terris et caelis altior exsto.

Translation:

No one is truly excellent or happy without me.
I embrace all whose hearts seek me.
He who goes without my companionship will be destroyed by death,
And he who carries me will remain safe without end.
I am lower than the earths and higher than the heavens.

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On humility


Tags: riddles  latin  Tatwine